Superstition in Benin Kingdom

Benin is a tribe in Nigeria, and it is an old tribe, Benin has been in existence even Before the colonial master came to Nigeria, Benin is also refers to as Edo, they is a saying that goes like this"Agha se oghe Edo, Edo odion"-"Edo gha se oghe omwan Edo odion"- meaning Edo is senior at home and away from home.

First of all let me define the meaning of superstition so that we are clear on what we intend to read on or for Educational purpose.

Superstition is any pratices or belief consider by non-practitioner to be supernatural or irrational, Attributed to fate or magic,

They are some many superstition in Benin/Edo land but I will only mention a few.

1) The white tail of rabbit: This has been one of the superstition i fear the most, and up till now i havent try it out to check if it real or not.

We all know rabbit, it is a bush animal, me and my siblings love eating rabbit, so we always set trap in other to catch them, and when we do, we either use the rabbit for pepper soup or we dry the rabbit.

According to my dad, the white tail of the rabbit is very dangerous, and once it touches your manhood, it is believed that it can make a man impotent, so due to that, any time we kill a rabbit, we always cut off the tail before roasting the hair on the body to avoid story that touch.

2) pounding of molten without anything in it.: pounding of empty molten is said to be very risky, and it is believe that one is pounding his or her heart. Although I have tried this one out, it just a way for my mom to scare us.

When I was kid, after my mom is done with the molten after pounding yam and banga, because that is my favorite, I often go back to the molten to start pounding, because I intend to learn how to pound so that i can be helping her, so in other for she to scare me or drive me from the molten so that i dont hit the pistol on my leg, she will tell me that i am pounding my heart, and then she will laugh at me.

3) Always put broom at the back of your door while sleeping: This is one of the believe or superstition Benin people often hold on dear. Many people often put broom at the back of their door while sleeping in the night, they believe that the broom drive away witches and wizard from entering their room while they are sleeping.

Although i have tried it out, when I was staying with my parents I copy the style from the, even without me knowing why they do it, until one day i say an elderly Benin person and he told me the reason, so that particular night I decided not to put the broom at the back of my door again, and I did it, not happen to me, since that day till now, I have put any broom at the back of my door again.

Last and not the least superstition, although they are several more.

4) don't point knife to someone, without shooking it on the floor: this one also, I have express not express it. It is believe that in Benin kingdom if you point a knife to somebody either as a result of play, it advisable that you shook the knife on the floor, reason is because if you don't do it, like that, they is a higher possibility that the person is going to hurt you in your dream using that same knife. So in other for you avoid that you need to shook the knife on the floor.

These and many more of superstition found in Benin kingdom although I have try some out and discover it was not real but just a way to put fear in your body.

Thank you for reading, I hope you learn something from this article